Kherlen River
river in Asia

Kherlen River (also known as Kerülen; Mongolian: Хэрлэн гол; Chinese: 克鲁伦河; pinyin: Kèlǔlún hé) is a 1,254 km river in Mongolia and China. It is also one of the two longest rivers in Mongolia, along with the Orkhon River.
Course
The river originates in the south slopes of the Khentii mountains, near the Burkhan Khaldun mountain in the Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area, about 180 kilometres or 112 miles northeast of Ulaanbaatar. This area constitutes the divide between the Arctic (Tuul River) and Pacific (Kherlen, Onon) basins and is consequently named "Three River Basins".
From there the Kherlen flows in a mostly eastern direction through the Khentii aimag. Further downriver, it crosses the eastern Mongolian steppe past Ulaan Ereg and Choibalsan, entering China at 48°3′N 115°36′E and emptying into Hulun Nuur after another 164 kilometres or 102 miles.
The mean streamflow of Kherlen River has decreased by more than a half from 2000 to 2008 when compared with prior decades.
Kherlen-Ergune-Amur
In years with high precipitation, the normally exitless Hulun Lake may overflow at its northern shore, and the water will meet the Ergune River after about 30 kilometres or 19 miles. The Ergune marks the border between Russia and China for about 944 kilometres or 587 miles, until it meets the Amur River. The system Kherlen-Ergune-Amur has a total length of 5,052 kilometres or 3,139 miles.
“Kherlen River” enters the record as river in Asia. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Kherlen, River and river can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Kherlen River” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Kherlen, River and river provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q641020. Authority coordinates are 48.765, 117.048. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2000 and 2008.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Kherlen River”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Kherlen River primary sources, Kherlen River archive and Kherlen research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Kherlen River”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Kherlen River” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.